This Kamloops cheerleading team has something big to cheer about

A small but mighty Kamloops cheerleading team is heading to the world stage in April.

Arctic Chill is a co-ed cheerleading team at Freeze Athletics made up of 10 athletes and three coaches.

The team earned a spot at the World Cheerleading Championships of All-Star Cheer in Orlando, Florida where they will be competing against the best teams from all over the world. It is a chance for the athletes to showcase the results of the hundreds of hours of practice and determination it took to reach this exciting stage.

“This is as big as it gets for All-Star cheerleading,” said coach Keri Lewis. “It has been the goal for eight years.”

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A bid is an invitation to compete, and must be earned through competing at an event that offers them. Lewis said there are only a few qualifier events that offer Worlds bids throughout the year and at a minimum the team has to be a level 5. This is the first level 5 team Lewis has put together. They went to Edmonton to compete in late January.

“It was our first level 5 qualifier event so my expectation was we would learn and grow from it,” she said. “We ended up being awarded. Because of COVID, we watched the award ceremonies online after we got home. Teammates were spread out in different places but we were all watching. They were so excited, it was unbelievable, the emotion was palpable.”

All-Star Cheer is not cheering for a team on a sports field, it is a full-on sport that requires mental and physical strength, stamina, and commitment from every athlete. It is a discipline of cheer that involves athletes performing routines composed of tumbling, stunting, pyramids, dance and cheer segments.

Arctic Chill members range in age from 13 to 29.

“Cheerleading is in a growth phase right now,” Lewis said. “We are recognized as a sport in many provinces, including B.C. as of just a few years ago. There isn’t national funding yet. We are funded a bit provincially.”

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Most of the costs for the trip to Orlando will be on the individual athletes, and there are COVID testing requirements to meet. There has been a lot of discussion about the upcoming trip that is happening last week of April.

“A lot of the kids are booking their own flights, flying from Kelowna or Kamloops,” Lewis said. “Once we get there we have a practice scheduled. Then we go to semi-finals and then, fingers crossed, finals.”

Lewis has coached some on the team for years and watched them grow up. She said the word “proud” does not begin to describe her feelings about them.

“I feel I’ve had a hand in raising some of the kids,” she said. “Winning the bid was the biggest moment, having them attain the goal they have been working so hard for. It has been an incredible journey together.”

To support the team’s trip with a donation, click here.

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